Smart home in Germany (and elsewhere too): a very complex ecosystem, still in the making, slows down developments

Published: 2015-10-29

Despite several pilot projects of well known actors, such as the former incumbent Deutsche Telekom or the power utility RWE, that already presented "intelligent home" show houses 10-15 years ago and despite being a topic of the consumer goods and electrical device industry since the late 1980s, the meaning of "smart home" or "connected home" has remained unknown or at least unclear for the larger public until the last five to ten years. In early September 2015, the leading trade show for consumer electronic devices and home appliances, the IFA in Berlin, once more focused the consumers' attention on the vast topic of "smart home" applications and services.To date, the ratio of Germans having at least heard about this topic is somewhere between 25% and 65%: a large range as nearly every user inquiry is presenting different results.